Carabao Cup: Fourth-round ties at Newcastle & Southampton moved because of strikes

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Nick Pope is congratulated by his Newcastle team-matesImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Newcastle beat Crystal Palace on penalties in the Carabao Cup third round

Next week's Carabao Cup ties at Newcastle and Southampton will be played a day early because of planned strike action by medical services.

Ambulance staff across most of England and Wales will go on strike on 21 December in a dispute over pay.

Newcastle's fourth-round tie with Bournemouth has therefore been brought forward from 21 to 20 December.

Southampton will also now be playing on 20 December, at home to League One Lincoln City.

Kick-off for both fixtures will be 19:45 GMT, and although tickets already purchased remain valid, refunds will be available for both games.

Newcastle United said: "The planned strike action has significant safety implications on the club's matchday medical provisions."

Southampton said: "A number of solutions were carefully considered, but it was decided that this was the only suitable outcome to maintain the level of safety required for the match to take place."

Manchester United are in talks with authorities over their home match with Burnley on 21 December, while Blackburn Rovers had already made contingency plans to host Nottingham Forest on the same day.

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